This invention is related to earthworking and material handling implements and more particularly to buckets and scoops of the type having a plurality of tooth members used to facilitate the bucket or scoop in engaging an embankment or a pile of material.
For the most part those buckets and scoops used in material handling applications consist of a pair of sidewalls, a bottom wall which interconnects the sidewalls and provides a forwardly disposed lip or digging edge, and a plurality of tooth members fixedly or removably mounted along the forward edge of the backwall lip. The bucket itself is connected to a pivotal arm such as a dipperstick of a backhoe or lift arms of a loader. When the bucket is placed in operation the dipperstick or arm is moved into an embankment or pile of material so as to force the tooth members to penetrate the material. The tooth members as such form a wedge to facilitate the bucket engaging and breaking out of the material. As can be appreciated the tooth members are exposed to substantial bending stresses and, relative to the main body of the bucket, are rapidly worn away through use.
Heretofore, it has been common practice to provide tooth members which are especially hardened or configured to resist wear and to mount the tooth members to a shank, which in turn is welded to the lip of the bucket in a manner that the stresses imposed on the teeth are distributed to the maximum extent to the backwall and the sidewalls of the bucket. Those skilled in the art know that these practices have not been entirely satisfactory. These buckets present a certain amount of obstruction to digging and are often difficult to service in the field. Further, the cost of manufacturing these tooth members and the cost of maintaining the bucket in a good working condition have been relatively high. What is needed is a relatively simple bucket design having a set of tooth members incorporated therein which is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, easy to maintain, particularly in the field or at the job site, and does not obstruct the digging action. A bucket design incorporating such features is likely to be enthusiastically accepted by the industry.